U.S. hire former Germany coach Vogts as special adviser

BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States have hired former Germany coach and World Cup winner Berti Vogts as a special adviser until the World Cup in Brazil as they look to boost their chances of getting through the group stage, the team said on Monday.

The United States have been drawn with Germany, Ghana and Portugal for the preliminaries at the June 12-July 13 finals.

Vogts, who won the trophy as a player in 1974 and coached Germany and current U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann to their last international title at Euro 1996, has also coached African team Nigeria as well as Scotland. He is currently the Azerbaijan national team coach.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have Berti join us as an adviser," Klinsmann said in a statement. "He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, both as a player and a coach, and he knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level."

Vogts will help development of training plans, prepare scouting reports and will travel to watch opponents in the run-up to the tournament.

Nicknamed 'the terrier' for his tough defending, Vogts was a stalwart at Borussia Moenchengladbach for 15 years and earned 96 caps for Germany before going into coaching.

He coached Germany from 1990-1998 before taking on other national teams with mixed success.